Effect Of Dance Therapy On Parenting Stress Of Mothers Of Autistic Children:Mediation Of Depression And Anxiety

Objectives:Based on comparing the levels of parenting stress,depression,and anxiety between mothers of autistic children and normal children,this study explored the characteristics of parenting stress,depression,and anxiety among mothers of autistic children;On the basis of exploring the effect of dance therapy on the adjustment of parenting stress among mothers of autistic children,a mediation model of depression and anxiety was constructed to explore the internal mechanism of dance therapy affecting parenting stress among mothers of autistic children,with a view to providing reference for promoting the mental health of autistic caregivers and the setting of dance therapy courses.Methods:In this study,90 mothers with autism and 109 mothers with normal children were assessed using the Parenting Stress Index Short Form(PSI-SF),Self Rating Depression Scale(SDS),and Self Rating Anxiety Scale(SAS).The demographic characteristics,parenting stress,depression,and anxiety of the two were compared and analyzed using chi-square test and independent sample t-test.At the same time,40 mothers of autistic children were selected as subjects according to the experimental requirements,and divided into an experimental group(20 people)and a control group(20 people).The control group maintained its original state of life.The experimental group received 12 weeks of dance therapy intervention.The parenting stress,depression,and anxiety before and after the intervention were evaluated using PSI-SF,SDS,and SAS.The differences in parental stress,depression,and anxiety before and after the intervention were compared through paired sample t-test analysis,Independent sample t-tests were used to analyze the differences in parenting stress,depression,and anxiety between the two groups of subjects.Model 4 in Process 3.3 was used to fit the mediation model of depression and anxiety that dance therapy affected parenting stress in mothers of autistic children.Results:1.There were significant differences in PSI-SF,SDS,and SAS scores between mothers of autistic children and normal children(P<0.01)2.After 12 weeks of dance therapy,the total PSI-SF scores and PD,PCDI and DC scores of the mothers of the children with autism in the experimental group decreased significantly(P<0.01),while there was no significant change in the mothers of the children with autism in the control group(P>0.05),and the total PSI-SF scores and the scores of PD,PCDI and DC(P<0.05)were significantly different between the mothers of the children with autism in the experimental group and the mothers of the children with autism in the control group(P<0.05).3.After 12 weeks of dance therapy,the SDS and SAS scores of mothers with autism in the experimental group were significantly reduced(P<0.01),while there was no significant change in the mothers of autistic children in the control group(P>0.05),and the SDS and SAS scores of mothers of children with autism in the experimental group and mothers with autism in the control group were significantly different(P<0.01).4.Depression and anxiety played a completely mediating role in the effects of dance therapy on maternal parental stress of children with autism,and the indirect effects were-10.19 and-5.68,accounting for 61.76% and 34.42% of the total effect,respectively.Conclusions:1.Compared with mothers of normal children,mothers of autistic children have higher levels of parenting stress and stress in three areas: parental distress,poor parent-child interaction,and difficult children.2.Mothers of autistic children have higher negative emotions,with higher levels of depression and anxiety than mothers of normal children.3.12-week dance therapy can effectively reduce the stress levels of mothers with autism in three aspects: parenting distress,poor parent-child interaction,and difficult children.It has a positive impact on the overall parental stress of mothers with autism.4.12-week dance therapy can effectively reduce the negative emotions of mothers with autism,and has a significant improvement in depression and anxiety.5.12-week dance therapy can indirectly reduce the level of parenting stress in mothers with autism by improving their depression and anxiety.